Joe Sinsheimer

Watchdog wants reforms

bniolet — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:20:41 -0500

Campaign finance watchdog Joe Sinsheimer is urging Gov. Bev Perdue to remove Ruffin Poole, a former top aide to Gov. Mike Easley, from the Golden LEAF board because he refused to testify at last month's state elections board hearing.

Sinsheimer, a Democratic political consultant who has emerged as an advocate of transparent government and campaign finance reforms, also said Perdue should release all reports on missing gubernatorial travel records from 2005, J. Andrew Curliss reports on the Investigations blog.

Perdue has so far refused to release the records.

In addition, he asks for a review of the permitting process surrounding a controversial cement plant near Wilmington, citing ongoing revelations about the state's environmental agency.

There was no immediate response from Perdue.

Update: A spokeswoman for Perdue said this afternoon that the governor is reviewing the letter and did not have a detailed response about Poole.

Document(s):
Sinsheimer_letter.pdf

Perdue not releasing internal inquiry

bniolet — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:39:52 -0400

Gov. Beverly Perdue today declined to take steps to make public an internal state Highway Patrol investigation into missing records pertaining to her predecessor's travels in 2005.

Patrol officials say the internal affairs investigation, the second of two internal probes into the missing records, cleared a patrol supervisor involved in the records' disappearance, Capt. Alan Melvin. But neither the patrol or its boss, state Crime Control Secretary Reuben Young, are making the report public.

They cite state law that keeps most personnel matters secret. But the law includes an exemption for the release of personnel records when an agency's integrity is in question.

Perdue did not directly answer a reporter's question as to whether she would order the report released. She suggested she did not have the legal authority to do so.

"I'm not a lawyer," said Perdue, a New Bern Democrat. "I'm trying to follow the rules of the law ... I'm constantly told this is privileged information."

More after the jump.

Black moving to Georgia prison

bkrueger — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:35:49 -0400

Former House Speaker Jim Black is being moved to a prison closer to home.

The Charlotte Observer reports that Black, a Mecklenburg County Demcrat, was en route late Friday to a federal prison in Jesup, Ga., 300 miles south of Charlotte, according to former Mecklenburg commissioners chairman Parks Helms, a friend of Black's who also served in the state House.

That's more than 200 miles closer to home than his former prison in Lewisburg, Pa.

Last month, more than 150 friends of Black - including Helms, Matthews Mayor Lee Myers and former Republican Gov. Jim Martin - wrote letters to federal prison officials asking for leniency because of the failing heath of Black, 74, and his wife.

They also wrote letters to President Barack Obama, asking that Black's sentence be commuted.

Helms said he fears nothing short of commuting Black's sentence will allow his ailing wife to see him.

Black's wife, Betty, has degenerative Lou Gehrig's disease and Helms said he feels the move doesn't get Black close enough to her.

“It doesn't matter whether it's a hundred miles or 200,” Helms said. “She's just actually got limited time. … I think a commutation now is really the only thing that can give her and probably (Black) some relief.”

UPDATE: An official at the prison in Jesup confirmed Saturday that they do have an inmate named James Black.

Martin, others want break for Black

bniolet — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:13:29 -0400

Former Republican Gov. Jim Martin plans to be among those asking federal officials to move former Democratic House Speaker Jim Black to a prison closer to home or to commute his sentence.

Black's attorney says about 150 people — including interim N.C. State University Chancellor Jim Woodward and several legislators — already have written on Black's behalf. Black has been locked up since July 2007 in Lewisburg, Pa., the prison that once held union boss Jimmy Hoffa and crime boss John Gotti. Black is scheduled for release in 2012.

Black, 74, was sentenced for accepting thousands of dollars in illegal payments while speaker of the N.C. House.

Friends say not only has he become increasingly infirm, but his wife, Betty, has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — "Lou Gehrig's Disease."

Not everybody wants Black's term cut.

"Jim Black wants our compassion today, but all we ever wanted from him was honest government," says Joe Sinsheimer, a Raleigh consultant whose research helped lead to Black's downfall. (Char-O)

...than the speaker you don't know

markjohnson — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:34:22 -0400

Joe Sinsheimer, the man whose jimblackmustgo Web site helped topple former House Speaker Jim Black, may be having some regrets.

That's what he wrote on Facebook, anyway.

Legislators are considering shaving a few days off the end of the 2009-2010 school year to save money. Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat and education budget writer, said those final days are of limited instructional value.

Sinsheimer wrote: "It is really dangerous when someone as well-respected as Rep. Rick Glazier tells us that the last two weeks of school have limited instructional value. Years from now, when the current budget fiasco has passed, these words will be flung into the face of any who lobby for more funds for our schools. Who would have thought that Joe Hackney et al would be leading this. My God, I am starting to miss Jim Black."

State pay cuts must go?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:25:48 -0400

Joe Sinsheimer is back consulting, and his newest client is the State Employees Association of North Carolina.

Sinsheimer said the association hired him this month to help them respond to the many changes expected as Gov. Beverly Perdue and lawmakers hammer out a budget that is expected to include major cuts, Dan Kane reports.

He said he will help the association with communications strategies, but he will not be lobbying governmental officials. He declined to say what SEANC is paying him.

"State employees need to sift through all of the changes that are coming their way, and figure out how they can respond, how they can work with the state to improve service delivery and maintain service delivery," Sinsheimer said. "So they are feeling that given the magnitude of sea change in front of them, they wanted an extra pair of hands to help."

More after the jump.

Sinsheimer: Knew Obama way back when

markjohnson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:14:53 -0500

More than a year before former Democratic consultant Joe Sinsheimer began identifying corrupt Democratic lawmakers in North Carolina, he alerted friends to President-elect Barack Obama's rise to success.

Sinsheimer, infamous among N.C. Democrats for forming a web site devoted to ousting then-House Speaker Jim Black long before Black's federal conviction on corruption charges, worked for Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign.

When Obama was tapped to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, Sinsheimer emailed friends and colleagues, encouraging them to watch:

"If you don't know much about Barack, you will soon," Sinsheimer wrote in July 2004. "He is one (of) the rising stars in American politics. Hope you have a few minutes to spare to listen to Barack's vision for our country."

Dome suspects rumors will soon emerge of an administration appointment for Sinsheimer, if only generated by House Democrats who would like to see him move to Washington.

Sinsheimer to host Kissell event

DavidIngram — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:52:06 -0400

Joe Sinsheimer continues to stay involved in Democratic politics.

He and his wife, Toddi Steelman, are hosting a fundraiser for Democratic congressional candidate Larry Kissell. The reception is scheduled for Sept. 28 at their Raleigh home.

Sinsheimer is a former opposition researcher for Democratic campaigns. He retired from full-time politics after the 2004 election, but he has been a vocal advocate for tougher ethics laws and a critic of many Democrats in the N.C. House.

He put pressure on then-Speaker Jim Black, a Mecklenburg County Democrat now serving a federal prison sentence for corruption.

Former Gov. Jim Hunt is the headliner for the Kissell fundraiser. Other sponsors include lobbyist Al Adams, public relations executive Ken Eudy, former candidate for treasurer Michael Weisel and lobbyist Leanne Winner. Suggested contribution: $100.

Kissell is running against U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, a Concord Republican.

Sinsheimer: Indictments will continue

DavidIngram — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:13:40 -0400

Joe Sinsheimer says more change is needed at the General Assembly.

The former Democratic campaign consultant released a statement Wednesday on the conviction of former state Rep. Thomas Wright. Sinsheimer filed the initial complaint against the Wilmington Democrat in December 2006 with the State Board of Elections.

Here's his statement:

Thomas Wright's latest felony conviction is a sad end to a once promising political career.
Wright seems to have been undone by the same toxic combination of arrogance, hubris and greed that led to the downfall of former Speaker Jim Black. The indictments and convictions will continue until either the leadership of the General Assembly decides to change the culture of the institution or voters adopt a 'throw-the-bums-out' mentality.
Neither seems imminent, although both would be welcome.

Several lawmakers are subjects of ongoing investigations. The State Board of Elections is investigating a complaint about Sen. Julia Boseman, a Wilmington Democrat, and it has been reviewing the campaign finances of several Mecklenburg County Democrats in response to an investigation by The Charlotte Observer.

The House of Representatives voted in March to expel Wright from office, the first expulsion since the 19th century.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated whether any lawmakers are under investigation.

Black pays $1 million fine

bkrueger — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:34:17 -0400

Former N.C. House Speaker Jim Black has paid a $1 million fine days before a court-ordered deadline, his lawyers announced Thursday.

The Matthews Democrat is in federal prison in Pennsylvania after being convicted of accepting illegal payments from campaign contributors, mostly in cash handed over in men's bathrooms.

In a release, attorney Allen Powell said Black paid the fine to the school system in Wake County, where he was convicted, reports Jim Morrill and David Ingram.

"I always intended to leave a portion of my estate to help secure the enhancement of North Carolina's public educational system," Black said in a statement. "And while this payment comes a bit premature, I gladly give it knowing that North Carolina's children will be the beneficiaries."

The fine was originally due last year. But his attorneys argued that Black was unable to sell real estate at a fair market value. A Superior Court judge then set a July 1 deadline, with one condition: Black had to put up property as a guarantee.

He chose his former optometry uptown office, valued for tax purposes at $1.2 million. The judge wrote that the property could be sold at foreclosure if needed.

It's unclear where Black got the million dollars. Mecklenburg property records indicated he still owns the uptown property. Powell could not be reached late Thursday.

"The only legacy that Jim Black will leave the state of North Carolina is one of political corruption and personal shame," said Joe Sinsheimer, a former Democratic campaign consultant who has criticized Black.

Black is due for release in 2012.